Journal

From the sound of waves to restaurant chatter and New York traffic, Giles and Henry, owners of Two Hands Restaurant & Bar, have relocated from Australia to Manhattan, bringing a little Down-Under, Downtown. In the process of curing their cravings for healthy food, great coffee and a community presence, they’re continuously curing cravings for breakfast, lunch, dinner and happy-hour, with innovation, style and personality. Two Hands is one to watch, visit and keep on visiting.

TELL US ABOUT YOURSELVES AND WHAT YOU DO:Henry and I co-own Two Hands Café and Two Hands Restaurant &amp; Bar both located in Downtown NYC. We both grew up on the beaches of Sydney and moved to New York in 2011. We both missed Australian café culture, a place where you could eat healthy food, drink great coffee and feel a part of a community. We opened our café in 2014 and our restaurant &amp; bar in 2016 and we’ve loved in minute of being owners, chefs, baristas, bartenders, servers and managers. Owning a restaurant requires you to wear a lot of hats!

DESCRIBE A TYPICAL WORK DAY:Henry and I both usually work a solid 12 hour day. Starting usually around 8am, we head into either the café or restaurant, check all the staff are present and all the deliveries have arrived. We’ll sit have breakfast, test the coffee, then knock out any emails or admin we have to do. We then spend the remainder of the day split between helping out on the floor serving guests or in the kitchen cooking food. We’ll usually get home between 9-10pm each night and head straight to bed!

Image via Two Hands

HOW DOES SCENT EXIST IN YOUR WORK?Scent is so important in a restaurant. We’re open 8am-10pm Monday to Sunday so no matter what time you walk in to Two Hands you’ll smell our food being cooked and coffee being made. It’s the perfect combination.

WHAT ARE THE FAVOURITE DISHES ON THE MENU?It’s hard to pick any one dish. A few crowd favourites are our Brassicas Bowl and our Chili Scramble Eggs with Avocado & Bacon for breakfast. Lunch time we do a great Cauliflower Cous Cous Salad with chicken and for dinner, our Salmon and our Two Hands Burger both fly out the door!